Qualified Remodeler Magazine

AUG 2013

Qualified Remodeler helps independent remodeling firms to survive, become more professional and more profitable by providing must-have business information, namely best business practices, new product information and timely design ideas.

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exterior contractor
Before
with RenoWorks software and
a full catalog of product information from one of his company's leading suppliers, Alside's
Preservation line. After taking a
few photos of the house, he sat
with the owners and clicked his
way through to a finished design.
"You can retrofit their existing house with all the products,"
Macek says. The owners liked the
proposed new look so much, they
moved the exterior renovation to
the top of their to-do list, above
some other improvements they
had been considering. "After seeing our design, they actually did
the exterior before the interior."
Material balance
Key to the updated appearance is
a balanced mix of materials that
helps give the house a sense of
pedigree beyond what it might
otherwise deserve. Cedar-style siding in a neutral tan is the predominant ingredient, but cladding the
garage-topping dormer in cedarstyle shakes creates the visual suggestion of a home that has grown
over time in the model of, say, a
lakeside family cottage. Finally,
stone panels wrap around the base
of the garage in a high-end touch
Wrapping the lower portion of the
home in manufactured stone adds
an element that made this home
stand out.
Macek says is a signature element
in many of their projects.
The windows — approximately 30 of them — also add some
streamlined style to the home's
new curb appeal. The simple
three-over-zero sash design mimics what one might see in a classic Chicago bungalow. Choosing
the pattern, though, required a
more three-dimensional visual
aid than Macek's iPad could provide, so he and the homeowners
used masking tape to mark out
the new mullions.
"You can show [homeowners]
the pictures, but at the end of the
day, they need to know what the
project will look like," Macek says,
noting the role such analog tools
COMPANY STATS
Elite Remodeling Group
Rolling Meadows, Ill.
eliteremodelinggroup.com
Annual revenue: $10 million
Full-time employees: 95
% Residential projects: 95%
% Single-family projects: 95%
% Design-build: 50
% Bid: 50
PRODUCTS USED
Siding: Alside
Brick/Stone: Eldorado Stone
Doors: Therma-Tru
Garage door: Amarr
Non functional shutters were eliminated from the front elevation,
and replaced with a more architecturally accurate design.
as masking tape can play, even
in today's digital design environment. "That tape was on there
until we removed the windows."
The beauty of this updated
design is more than skin deep.
In the three weeks or so Elite
Remodeling Group took to complete the job, the company also
significantly improved the home's
energy efficiency. The high-end
siding incorporates polystyrene
foam insulation molded to the
underside of each panel, providing an R-5 insulation value, even
when installed over simple building wrap. And the new windows
are triple-paned, with krypton
insulating gas, boosting energy
performance even further.
"Their utility cost was probably
cut by 25 percent," Macek says.
Though this kind of efficiency
improvement wasn't a primary
goal of the owners, he adds, "it was
a benefit we brought to the table."
Neighborhood standout
The upgraded exterior has
become a standout in the neighborhood, according to Macek
and fellow Elite Remodeling
Group co-owner, Sam Patel. It
also has become a flagship proj-
Before
ect in the company's advertising
efforts, and has been profiled in
a Chicago-area home-improvement television show. In one wise
move that has proven to be particularly profitable, the company
sent reps door-to-door with flyers on the day the television crew
was filming.
"We probably sold another
couple hundred thousand dollars
on that day alone," Macek says,
adding the company now likely
has done a total of $500,000
worth of business in the surrounding neighborhood since
completing the original project.
This success raises an obvious
question: How much can the
original project stand out, now,
when so many surrounding
homes have had similar facelifts?
"Not everyone is willing to
spend $80,000 on a $400,000
house, and there were a lot of
houses that only did windows
or siding," Patel says. So, this
exterior remodel remains an
aspirational example for many
other neighborhood owners.
"The majority of work we do is
1990s houses — we want to have
people look at that job and know
what's possible."
ForResidentialPros.com
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August 2013
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